Duck Haus from grace yang on Vimeo.

Dreamers from grace yang on Vimeo.

Spleenless in Rome from grace yang on Vimeo.

Gotta start making more videos. I was working on one when I lost all my data this past summer…

Graceee

Breakfast, first and second course: listening to fabulously hungover good old American boys moan and gush

Serious photo poses at the Trevi: i.e, boyfriend slightly re-adjusts and stoically positions girlfriend’s arm as she faux-throws a coin :: the peace sign is thrown up and steady held and re-flashed… again… again… again…

Awkward resting faces, i.e. I found two woman who naturally sported the angry naked mole rat face

Purple highlights

Silently using computers in a 7 bed hostel room with two completely silent boys

Shutter Island. I would watch it.Leo is oh so good

A pack of Asian monks

Several packs of Asian tourists

All kinds of manicured eyebrows :: on men’s faces

Pasquale, who borrowed a light :: apparently, my faux-name Mona (as I introduced myself) means girl-parts in 1/200 dialects in Italy… way to make a girl feel great, creepy old man… GOOD THING THAT’S NOT MY NAME

I’m so bad at lying

Skillfully squatting is difficult, and awkward

I can’t eat as much gelato as I thought I could

Leaving is going to be so bittersweet…!

1 day and then some; I will return to Seattle and immediately swallow its air.

<3 Graceee

]]> http://www.hearandsay.com/uncategorized/spoken-like-a-spaniard-who-is-really-french/feed/ 0 http://www.hearandsay.com/uncategorized/the-cloud-of-seagulls/ http://www.hearandsay.com/uncategorized/the-cloud-of-seagulls/#comments Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:38:39 +0000 admin http://www.hearandsay.com/?p=529 Has gone. I was sitting out in the balcony, when a storm of flying rats began ha-rass-ing each other in the airspace above my head. Unforgivable.

So I’m in Roma, still. The land of muscular jaws, Armani-Exchange stubble, and proud tans. Of surprisingly short men, who are all talk…but really, this city isn’t all about the male specimen. I’m not obsessing. Or complaining…I might be complaining, I miss Seattle boys. They might not smell as nice, but I’ve never complained about that…

TWO WEEKS ’til I come back! I know I shouldn’t already be reminiscing about Seattle, or Roma, and I should just rejoice in the moment (arms of joy! flail those arms of joy!) but what’s life without the spice of angst? It’s nothing; no, it’s an episode of Friends. It’s fettuccine from Maggiano’s– bland butter in a swamp of noodles.Yeeeck.

So here’s to the cusp of spring; of the beautiful happy, the gorgeous sad, the silent contentedness of cool evenings. I can’t wait to see you, Sir Tomorrow. Because you’ll probably have a nice coni of gelato waiting for me…

If I don’t puke from my own cheesiness.

Gracious

calls for some gelato

gelaattooooo

YUM TIME
G

ps i miss u tara

Got back from Amsterdam– from this weekend– a little crazy–

But this weekend, I’m going to Berlin. Jam with some Germans.

Here’s some pix to summarize Europe so far…

Get told in Copenhagen

It snew

Fontana de Treviii licious

Awkward pictures are the best

Keep up kidsterrrz

<3

Gracious

phrases intimo

1. “Sono eccito” ==>“I am [turned on]”
I wasn’t looking for this expression specifically, but I asked Andrea, my Italian teacher, how to say “I am excited”. Directly translated, the meaning of the phrase has a culturally sexual implication. This also happens in the Spanish language. Here is an interesting example of what isn’t “lost in translation”, but rather, what is unknowingly said…

Smoking and comics come together in this great Tintin comic

2. “Il fumetti” ==> Comics
As it stands, the phrase seems like a derivative of the action “to smoke”, or “fumare”. The entire exercise where the class is supposed to ask each other what activities or hobbies they like/enjoy or do not like/enjoy, everyone believed that the phrase meant “to smoke” or “cigarettes”. However, Andrea explained to us how the association came about: the word bubbles and thought bubbles of comic book writing are parallel to the idea of cigarette smoke coming out of one’s mouth. This sort of shows how much and often Italians may smoke…

bookz

3. “Libreria” ==> Bookcase
Naturally, I thought this meant library. With a second thought, I thought it meant bookstore. Upon looking this up, the direct translation means “bookcase”. The terms for library, on the other hand, is the same in Spanish: “biblioteca”.

Yellow Pages

4. “Gialle” ==> yellow
During Italian class, the descriptions used with the term “gialle” had me thinking it meant “giant”. I was very wrong; in fact, it means yellow. The term was also used to describe mystery novels as a genre.

Fabbricati

5. “fabbricati” ==> manufactured
Originally, I automatically associated this word with “fabric”; but it makes sense it means manufactured, or fabricated. Interesting that this word would be used, because of how relatively obscure “fabricated” is for us, at least in terms of everyday, colloquial language.

Confezioni = biscotti?

6. “confezioni” ==> confection
This word reminded me of “confession”, but confection makes sense too. Although, it was referring to the units of biscotti that came in a singular box—so I’m still not sure how this works, but I’m guessing they are referring to the actual biscotti as confection (as a type of food), rather than just biscotti.

Cristal

7. “cristal” ==> glass
Doesn’t everything sound better in Italian? Including glass? Incidentally, “crystal” is “cristallo” in Italian. Whether or not crystal becomes a derivative of glass (in the sense of Italian technology) would be interesting to find out…

Abiti

8. “abiti” ==> suits/dresses
I actually thought this term was derived from the Italian verb “to live”, or “abitare”, but instead it’s a noun defining dresses. In the case of suits, I’m guessing dress-suits.

merceria

9. “merceria” ==>haberdashery
This term had a surprising definition. Looking at the context, I assumed that the term meant “merchandise”, and was going to contrast it with the similar appearance to “mercury”, but it was more difficult to extrapolate the precise meaning. The original definition of haberdashery means “men’s outfitters”, but applied to other signs—i.e. “intimo-merceria”, it has a more precise meaning of “boutique”.

fiasco

10. “fiasco” ==> flask
This surprised me because the sign was actually in broken English. They even misspelled bottle as “bootle”; so I was taking another gamble that they didn’t really mean fiasco. So fiasco means flask, rather than the a chaotic occurrence; the sign clarified that it could clear security for carry-on luggage.

piano

11. “piano” ==> slowly
This disconnect is pretty obvious. The translation from the English word for the musical instrument to the adverb actually shows up in reading music. The meaning is slightly different though; in the musical context, piano, or pianissimo means softly, while forte or fortissimo demarcates where one is to play loudly or with more force.

laboratorio

12. “laboratorio” ==> laboratory/office/workshop
While this word actually aligns with a predictable definition, the cultural nuance lies in its versatility as a term. When we use the word “laboratory” in English, it usually means a very specific scientific work-place, for chemical experiments. However, it seems like the Italian word can be applied to any work-place of artistic trade- i.e. antique crafts.

We live in a tourist trap.

I’m not complaining, per se– it’s a beautiful part of the city. We are so lucky to live near the Tiber; I walk across it every day and it’s always breathtaking. In a different way than Seattle; Seattle is strangely sobering as you walk through rivers of rain water and gutters (ok, maybe not so strangely sobering), but the Tiber, wet or dry, has a way of haunting you with thousands of histories…

I have found a cute boy named Francesco who works at an overpriced restaurant down in the campo. We will be married within the week, and he will spoon feed me gelato with lactaid in the mornings. Our ten children will be jumping joyously around us before self-administrating time-outs to write delicate haikus about our undying love. Ok, so I’ve only talked to him once. He’s a cutie.

but seriously, although Rome has its share of arrogant, self-righteous and narrow-minded men, the cliche romance of the city never ceases to haunt you. The histories are violent, sensual, gory; you can’t stop thinking about history when the cobblestones stubbing and wrestling with your toes are a constant reminder, when the fountains and saintly statues loom, gorgeous and mystical, where things are truly carved in a stone for all to remember… there are shocks of culture where you don’t expect it. The tiniest things expand to engulf your understanding of the norms, and it feels like nothing is the same… standing in line awkwardly juggling your valuables and dropping your dignity as the coins seriously don’t make sense or easily add up… you can feel the flush of ignorance seep into the confidence you used to have, and the comfort of your own country’s culture…

I’m so lucky to have had this opportunity; with the people I am with, in the place that I am. And it’s also made me more aware of what I miss about American and dear Seattle. Spongebob being one of them.

I should post more pictures. And I’m sorry I don’t update as often as I should. But my apartment doesn’t have internet, and it’s actually quite liberating… !

To my dear loved ones, who know who they are– I miss you!
And the following post is for class.

Gracious

We celebrated Shelby’s 21st last night. It was glorious. I had some interesting conversations. This one guy would not stop asking me what I wanted to drink, and when I said some nice ginger ale will do, he cringed.

Which was totally fine, I told him if he can’t find me some, someone else will… I just love ginger ale. What a great drink.

Instead, I ended up having some disgusting Campari. I thought it was a nice fizzy fruit juice; the small little red bottle just reminded me of punch. Severe disappointment followed with a blushing, wistful tipsiness.

I miss everyone at home!!!

Going to wander the wet streets today <3 <3 <3

Gracious

COM Rome program at the Spanish Steps

So I made it to Rome.

A decent 8 hour flight ruined by a stuffy cabin. My body lost control of its temperature as it slipped into a feverish frenzy. I distracted myself with The September Issue, which is a great documentary on Vogue and the inner methodological workings and politics in the world of fashion, and then made a Bad Decision by watching 500 Days of Summer, or as I would love to name it, 500 Days of SUCK. I’ll admit I’m in crush with Zooey Deschanel and her alt-vintage-60′s hipster look and haircut, but an entire movie need not be dedicated as her personal music video with a slip-shod plot. But it was all worth it when Amsterdam displayed beautifully fragrant restrooms, and even more glorious when I finally arrived to Rome, Italy.

Today was our first day of class; these past few days have consisted of catching up on sleep, settling in, and an evening at the Drunken Ship.

So far, I have to say:

1. Cobblestones are a way of life

2. So are fine Italian boots

3. … and fine Italian men.

4. … and bidets.

More to come, amoré.

Gracious

Filthy sik.

I will try very hard not to look like this

To my dear family and roommates: do not fear, for I have tattooed my face into the insides of your eyelids. You will never forget the asymmetry of my face.

To my dear friends and/or co-workers: I will return 100 fold stronger and greater than ever before; but also 100 times as merciful. Be excited. Be wary. But be excited.

To my facebook friends: I will be deleting some of you soon. 2010 calls for a purge.

To Elliott Smith, Michael Cera, endearingly awkward darlings, and Seattle:  I love you–! Marry me!

Love,

Gracious

PS: keep u posted